HURRICANE RELIEF FUND FOR LAWYERSDue to the widespread destruction that Hurricane Katrina
has had on the Metropolitan New Orleans area, the Louisiana
State Bar Association has established the Hurricane Katrina
Legal Community Relief Fund to help assist lawyers who lost
their homes and offices in the storm.

"The Red Cross and FEMA are poised to help citizens cope with their
personal losses but I am confident members of the legal community will
come together to help their colleagues whose law practices and families
have been displaced by this unprecedented disaster," LSBA President
Frank X. Neuner, Jr. said of the fund.

The relief fund is being administered by the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation.

ENTRY-LEVEL LAWYER SALARIES STABLEAn annual Associate Salary Survey conducted by the NALP,
an association for legal career professionals, shows the
median salary for first-year associates has remained stable
over the last five years.

The 573 offices that provided salary information for the survey reported
a first-year median income of $100,000, with salaries ranging from $67,500
in firms of two to 25 attorneys to $125,000 in firms with more than 500
lawyers. The study shows first-year salaries have remained stable in
firms of 251 or more lawyers compared with figures reported five years
ago, when the median salary was $110,000.

In some major cities, such as Los Angeles and New York City, as well
as the Silicon Valley area, the prevailing salary of $125,000 for first-year
associates has remained unchanged since April 2000. Medians in smaller
metro areas such as Portland, Sacramento, Cincinnati, Hartford and Indianapolis
were in the mid to upper $80,000s. The median salary for first-year associates
was highest in the Northeast region at $125,000, and lowest in the South
at $95,000.

For details of the survey, go to www.nalp.org.

OREGON PATENT GROWTH BEATS NATIONAL AVERAGEThe number of patents awarded to Oregon inventors has
increased by about 500 percent during the last 20 years,
nearly four times the national average, according to the
2004 Oregon Patent Report compiled by Stoel Rives.

Oregon inventors were awarded 2,380 patents in 2004, with electronics,
information technologies and optical technologies accounting for 62 percent
of the patents. Intel and Hewlett-Packard lead the patent pack. More
than one in four patents listed Intel as the assignee, and more than
one in nine named Hewlett-Packard. Other companies in the top five include
Nike, Inc. with 119 patents, including 104 design patents; Tektronix,
Inc. with 57; and Digimarc Corp. with 49.

"The level of patent activity in Oregon shows how important innovation
is to the economy in Oregon. It also is a positive indication of the
direction our economy is moving," noted Wally Van Valkenburg, technology
and intellectual property practice group leader at Stoel Rives.

Information on patent infringement litigation in Oregon shows 33 suits
filed in federal court in Oregon last year, with nearly half involving
general mechanical technologies. Though a significant portion of patents
were issued for electronics and information technology, the percentage
of patent infringement lawsuits involving those two sectors was small
in comparison.

A majority of
the nation’s lawyers provided free legal assistance to
people of limited means and organizations serving the
poor, volunteering an average of 39 hours of pro bono
service a year, according to a new survey conducted by
the American Bar Association.

"Supporting
Justice," the first national survey of lawyers’ pro
bono activity, shows 66 percent of attorneys provide some
type of pro bono work during the year. Nearly half, 46
percent, met the ABA’s goal of providing at least 50 hours
of free legal services in a year.

When asked about
factors affecting their decision to engage in pro bono
work, 70 percent of participants reported a sense of professional
responsibility and personal satisfaction, while 34 percent
cited recognition of the needs of the poor. When asked
about the factors that discourage pro bono service, 69
percent of respondents reported a lack of time. Another
15 percent named pressure to work a minimum of billable
hours and 12 percent reported cost concerns.

For more information
about the survey, go to www.abaprobono.org/report.pdf.